Interview: On Tuesday, April 11, 1978 at approximately 6:00 p.m. Harold Rose, Jim Kelly and I went to Hurt's home in Raleigh. It is located in a small apartment building on a main thoroughfare in the downtown portion of the city. Hurt's wife, Billie G. Hurt, answered the door. Harold identified us and asked for Mr. Hurt. She let us in and went into the bedroom to get Mr. Hurt. The apartment is small and modest but neatly furnished.

John Hurt came out of the bedroom where he had been lying in bed and was clad in neat pajamas. He appeared to be middle-aged and is relatively short. He suffers from what he described as arthritis; most of the fingers on both hands are missing and the remaining fingers are severly cripped [sic.] . He explained when we asked about his disability that doctors had amputated his fingers because the arthritis was so crippling that he would have more use of his limbs without the fingers. (He in fact handled a sigarette relatively adeptly.) It is also apparent that his body is covered in a severe rash which causes the skin to redden and which apparently stays irritated. He described that condition to us as psoriasis.

As soon as we introduced ourselves, Hurt said he knew we were there because of the "rumor" about his name or phone number being on a slip of paper and "the man who killed Kennedy" had supposedly tried to call him. We asked where he had heard that rumor and he said people from the "newsmedia" had contacted him about it. We shoed him the telephone slip from the Dallas County Jail. He acknowledged that the telephone number 834-7430 was and is still hi number; however, he stated that he does not know to whom the other number on the slip, 833-1253, belonged. Hurt stated that he was at home at the time of the assassination and that he never received a call from Oswald or anyone else in connection with it.

Hurt says he had never heard of Oswald until the assassination and that it is a complete mystery to him and his wife as to how his name has come up in the case. We asked for any possible explanations, and Hurt and his wife could offer none. However, his wife (who remained in the room throughout the interview) stated that at some time around the time of the assassination the telephone company in Raleigh had mistakenly given their number to another party and that they received calls intended for that party for a time. She could not remember exactly when that occurred or the name of the party, but she thought the calls they received were local. The Hurts stated that they have had the same phone number for about 20 years; they said they had recently moved to their present address at the time of the assassination, but they had had the number transferred from their other address in Raleigh.

Mr. Hurt stated that he has never before spoken to nor been interviewed by anyone from the government about this matter. He has had several calls from news media people, but could not give details of those contacts. He said that about two months ago he received a call from a woman in Washington whom he did not identify further, but who wished to come to Raleigh to speak with him about this. He said that when we appeared he assumed I was that woman; I assured him I had never called and did not believe anyone from our Committee had ever called him.

When asked about his background, Hurt stated that he was in the Army and that he served in the Army Counterintelligence Corps (C.I.C.) in Europe and Japan; his dates of service were approximately 1942-46. Hurt stated that he enlisted in the service. When asked about his Intelligence work, he said the work in Europe involved interviewing nationals of European countries to determine if they had any connection with the German Secret Police pursuant to their requests to come to the United States. He said the people were German, Norwegian and Swedish primiarily. He stated that he was stationed in Japan on Honshu Island near a place called "Karosawa" (phonetic). He said the only work of any significance or particular interest he did there was to stumble upon a bullion of silver which the Germans were using to trade with the Japanese.

Hurt stated that his commanding officer in the C.I.C. was Melville Grimes, who he believes is now practicing law in Baltimore. He could not give the ames of any other men with whom he served and said he has not had further contact with any of them. He said his last contact with the military was approximately 1947, after he resigned, when he received a letter offering him a commission. He declined the offer.

Hurt stated that after his military service he entered the insurance business, working in claims. He said he was working for about a year in South Carolina and after that in North Carolina.

Hurt stated that he received a law degree from the University of Virginia but never practiced. I do not believe it is clear from the interview, but my recollection is that he was in law school before he entered the service.

We asked him if there were any relatives or friends who might have given his name out loosely to have caused this "confusion" with the Oswald case. Hurt stated that he has no close relatives, and that no males in his family have his exact name. We asked if any relatives had lived in Texas or Louisiana. He stated that his sister lived for a time in Louisiana, but that she had moved to South Carolina well before the assassination.

When asked what training Hurt had received to prepare him for intelligence work, he said he had had none. He said he received no training in any type of code work. He said the only language background he had was Spanish, but that it was very limited.

After the interview Hurt offered to provide any other information he could, as he and his wife both expressed the desire to clear this matter up. They asked what they should do if they are contacted again by media people. We advised them that that would have to be heir judgment, but that they could certainly ask their callers to provide sufficient identifying data or to appear in person. Harold gave Hurt one of the Committee's business cards so they would recognize us if we had to contact them again.

We asked how long Hurt had been disabled and he said since 1961. His wife then volunteered that it was 1955 when he became disabled. Hurt said that he is receiving full government disability. He showed us his Social Security card; the number is: [ redacted ]. He did not know what the notation "A" stood for.

INVESTIGATION INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

Identifying Information

Name:

John David Hurt

Address:

201 Hillsborough St., Apt.4

City/State:

Raleigh, N.C.

Date of Birth:

5/12/09

Date:

4-11-78

Place:

Residence

Telephone:

Raleigh: 834-7430

M or S:

Married

Spouse:

Billie G. Hurt

Personal History

Present Employment:

Unemployed, on government disabilityServed in the Army Counterintelligence Corps (C.I.C.)in Europe and Japan 1942-46.

Additional Personal Information

Relative(s): Name: Address:

WifeSame

Investigator:

Surell Brady, Harold Rose and Jim Kelly

Date:

Rife 4-13-78

Dr. Grover B. Proctor, Jr. is a historian and former university Dean who is widely acknowledged as an expert on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He has published numerous articles, lectured extensively, and has frequently been consulted by print and broadcast media.
While most of his work comprises analysis and interpretation of the assassination research phenomenon, he broke new ground in the investigation in the early 1980's with his work on Lee Harvey Oswald's alleged telephone call from the Dallas jail to a former military counterintelligence agent in Raleigh, N.C.

These documents have been collected and are being shared purely as an educational service to benefit historians and researchers who have an interest in this subject matter. Use of all materials is intended to fall under the "public domain" and/or "fair use" protection of U.S. copyright law, and they are reproduced for no purpose that involves monetary gain